German Muslim group protests military campaign against Islamic State

A Muslim group in Germany on Saturday criticised German lawmakers for giving the go-ahead for the country to join the coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria, saying it was a "recipe for failure".

The head of the Central Muslim Council of Germany (ZMD), Aiman Mazyek, told the daily Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung that the so-called "war on terror" has failed.

"We know, even more so today, that the war on terror only reinforces terrorism ... after al-Qaeda came IS [Islamic State], and what will be next?" he said, according to the newspaper.

His comments came the day after the German parliament green-lighted the deployment of Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate and up to 1,200 troops, allowing Germany to take a direct role in the battle against the IS group in Syria.

For Mazyek, the emergence of extremist groups "is the fruit of very badly implemented war policy," in particular in Iraq. "We spread the seeds of war, and we reaped refugees and terrorism," he said.

The ZMD has called for stopping the delivery of arms in the region and for pushing the regional powers to negotiate a peace plan.

Germany's green light for the anti-IS mission, which could become its biggest deployment abroad, comes three weeks after jihadists killed 130 people in a series of attacks in Paris.

The atrocities prompted France to invoke a clause requiring EU states to provide military assistance to wipe out the IS group in Iraq and Syria.

Germany’s parliament was given a one-year mandate, which can be extended in 2016.

The one-year mission is expected to cost around $142mn.

Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, voted in favour of the proposal after a debate lasting 77 minutes.

 The decision, though welcomed in some quarters, sparked a protest by around 3,000 people who gathered at Pariser Platz in central Berlin, with some holding banners reading “War Never Again”.